Designing and Manufacturing of Solid Intramedullary Interlocking Tibial Nail

摘要

Introduction: The closed intramedullary nailing is only practiced in prestigious few institutions in our country, although it is the norm in developed for closed or open fractures. The reason why it is not practiced in our domestic setup is financial. Aims and Objectives: due to high price of imported undreamed tibial nail (UTN) and difference in topographic measure-ment of the European and Asian Skeleton it was deemed necessary to develop an unreamed tibial nail. Material and Method: This study was carried out in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Jinnah Hospital and Mayo Hospital, Lahore between the, June 1995 to June 1997. 50 normal healthy males were included. The present study was car-ried out in two phases: phase I – collection of data regarding measurements of tibia in 20-40 years old male population by CT scan and phase II – designing and manufacturing of solid tibia nail alongwith inserting and interlocking instruments. Results: The collected data values were analyzed statistically. The two sizes obtained 330 mm and 350 mm in length and 9 mm in diameter. Solid nail developed from 316 L stainless steel. The inserting and interlocking instruments were made from stainless steel, used in surgical instruments. Inserting and interlocking as insertion handle, connecting screw, drill sleeve, inserter – extractor and slide hammer. Conclusion: An intramedullary nail is a load sharing device and allows the bone to transmit the compressive force while maintaining axial alignment. An ideal nail should have a cross – sectioned geometry consistent with the anatomic shape of the bone combined with a design that allows for the maximum bending and polar moments in inertia. On keeping the above mentioned biomechanics properties, we made a solid nail of 316L stainless steel and inserting as well as interlocking instru-ments of stainless steel.